The Darkness of the Hive
by B-House
Summary: Inquisitor Olm Detritus Innvestigates mysterious killings on the hive city of Monterey. But in the tunnels of the underhive, what does the darkness hide? More chapters to be added : please review.
1. The Body

The mutilated body filled the Hive tunnel with the stench of death and decay. As Inquisitor Olm Detritus gazed at it he couldn't help but notice that the body was lacerated with huge tear marks across its chest, the scars exposing the gory innards within. The wounds themselves wept a vile yellow puss that made the smell even more unbearable, and Detritus was close gagging. He bent down to take a closer inspection. This was most irregular.

"So, He's definitely dead then. . ." His companion Gus Neve was staring at the corpse, a rather nonchalant look across his face. Detritus had never seen Neve disturbed by anything he encountered. After 30 years of serving under the Inquisitor and witnessing the untold horrors that face mankind, he had developed a stomach of iron and a cock-sure persona to go with it. Hired from a life of gang violence in the deep hives on Thracian, Neve was a skilled and street-smart individual. Notoriously slick but aggressive in a gunfight he was a bit more than just a stupid hive thug. He possessed brains as well as brawn, one of the reasons Detritus chose to hire him.

"It would seem that way Neve."

"Well whatever killed him sure did mess him up. Couldn't of been a nice way to go." He said matter-of-factly.

Detritus had come to the depths of the Hive tunnels of Monterey after reports that a huge amount of killings were occurring. This was nothing unusual with the Hive gangs around that regularly turned the deep Hive cities into a battlefield. However these reports said that the bodies found had been chillingly mutilated, some even missing hands, arms or heads.

This again, was not unusual in his line of work, Chaos cells and cults often performed ritualistic killings, removing extremities and mutilating corpses. This though . . . was different.

"Your more familiar with hive life than me, is stuff like this common? Mutilation I mean?" Detritus valued the local knowledge his recruits often possessed.

"Sometimes. With some of your more hard-ass gangs who are looking to prove a point. It scares the shit outta your rivals. But not like this, this is to. . ."

"Graphic?" Detritus conjectured

". . . In-human"

He was right. There were no gun wounds or las scorches on the body, ruling out the gangs. Yet the huge tears did seem almost . . . beastly. This was preposterous of course; there was no "beasts" in a hive city.

Yet the thought still nagged away at the back of Detritus's mind.

He rose, wrapping his brown cloak around his body. The temperature in the under hives could be described as piercing at best. He wore a black body glove with a simple light armoured chest piece - Detritus much preferred the freedom of movement to the confinements of thick armour - Yet an insulated power suit would be heavenly now, he thought.

"I better inform Jonas." Detritus said almost himself. He engaged his vox link and got an immediate reply from the Arbites Captain.

"Yes Lord Inquisitor?" He had a gravelly tone of a natural leader. He was a man who had been in charge for a long time and the entire Arbites force of Hive 56 answered to him, yet he still knew to respect the higher authority of an Imperial Inquisitor.

"We've found another body in the under hives. Bring yourself and some officers to our location immediately. I want forensics conducted on the deceased and a report sent to my savant. Understood?"

"Of course sir, I'll have a team sent down right away."

"No, you'll want to see this for yourself captain."

"It's worse than the others?" He asked disbelievingly.

"A lot worse."

There was an uncomfortable pause, and then came the Captains reply.

"I'll be there right away."

"Good. We're going to continue the search."

"Emperor be with you." He replied, as the vox clicked off.

Detritus turned to Neve. He was leaning against the grungy hive wall, smoking an Iho-stick whilst checking his two las-pistols.

"Where to boss?" He queried

"Captain Jonas is on his way, we're heading out."

"You really wanna go crawling through the dark scary hives after some crazy mutilating murderer?" He asked jokingly, a smile playing across his features.

Detritus gazed into the endless darkness of the tunnel before him. An ominous feeling toyed with his nerves.

"An Inquisitors work is never done." He replied

"Well then sir. . ." Neve grinned as he spun his las-pistol round his finger ". . . We best get started."


	2. That Incessent Dripping

Chapter 2

Captain Jonas's speeder tore through the mid-hab levels of hive 56 at great speed. They were beginning to enter the fringes of the under hive now, and the presence of Arbites officers there was not taken too kindly by the locals. Jonas wanted to be in and out before anyone even knew they were there.

"The Co-ordinates the Inquisitor sent us aren't too far away sir. ETA 5 minutes." Rex, the young officer piloting the landspeeder, reported.

Nodding in acknowledgement, Jonas turned around and unlocked the speeders built in gun-rack. He removed a standard issue Arbites shotgun and begun to load it. Entering the under hives unarmed whilst wearing the uniform of an Adeptus Arbites official was suicide; there was no respect for law and order down here.

"I want you to examine the corpse with the utmost speed Grendel" Jonas turned and addressed his retinues Genetor and Verispex technician, chiefly in charge with the forensic examination of crime scenes.

"Any tests or evidence that does not need to be collected in the field shall not be conducted. Period. I don't want to spend any longer in this dump than I have to." Jonas was rather irritated that the Inquisitor had insisted he come in person. He was a busy man. He had no time to be running around looking at dead people, especially if they happened to be dead in one of the most dangerous areas of the Hive city.

He did, however, know better than to question an Inquisitor.

"I shall work with the utmost swiftness sir." Grendel replied in an artificial monotone. His entire larynx, neck and voice box had been replaced with artificial counterparts, along with much of the rest of his body.

They were getting into the real depths of Hive 56 now. The street lighting was virtually none existent and the landspeeders huge headlamps bathed the narrowing tunnels in an eerie glow. Jonas noticed the pedestrians on the streets had diminished to. They were simply mere shadows that edged the walkways and habs, trying to remove themselves from the glare of the headlights. Jonas could feel there bitter gaze upon him. He realised if they weren't out of here soon word of their presence would reach the Hive gangs, and then they'd be in a world of trouble.

The speeder slowed, turning down a tiny annex in the tunnel wall. It was barely small enough to fit through.

"The crime scenes dead ahead sir." Rex informed as the speeder came to a halt. The headlamps extinguished as the speeder wound down, and Jonas switched on his shotguns under slung torch as he clambered out.

He, Rex and Grendel began to advance cautiously down the long, dark passageway. His torch probed the darkness exploring its depths. He could tell the body was near. He could smell it.

*****

The soft crimson glow of Detritus's ignited power blade bathed the tunnels in an eerie red light. There portable lights had expired long ago, and now he and Neve were using only the light generated from the Inquisitors ornate and ancient weapon to find their way.

They were, as it happened, completely lost.

"This is ridiculous!" Detritus exclaimed, rather irritated.

Neve chuckled to himself.

"Well I'm glad you find it funny Gus, because I most definitely don't. Were lost in the bowels of some emperor damned hive, crawling around in filth and looking for a psychopathic murderer with nothing more than the bloody light from my power-blade!"

"It's all lookin' rather peachy boss." He said with chortle.

"I swear by the emperor I'll be glad to see the back of this rock." Detritus muttered

"No offence sir, but you'd of been eaten alive back home on Thracian." Neve was happily grinning to himself. It was rare to see the boss so perturbed by something, and he was quite enjoying it.

"None taken, the Hive life evidently isn't for me."

"Evidently."

The hunt for the killer had leaded them both on a wild and fruitless search through the never ending bowels of Hive 56. They had waded through grime and muck, crawled through service hatches and hidden passageways and crept through the never ending darkness, constantly looking over their shoulder. Well, Detritus was at least.

Neve however was used to the eerie atmosphere of the under hive. The stale and pungent smells that made his boss gag was like a whiff of home sweet home to him. The random clatters, bangs and distant roars of the ever working hive sent shudders through the Inquisitors spine, yet to Neve they were a pleasant cacophony of all too familiar sounds. When it came to the constantly encroaching darkness, Neves eyes were quite at home peering into it, yet poor old Detritus waved his glowing blade into the constant night trying fruitlessly to carve a path through the shadows.

"The vox working yet?" Detritus queried. They had been getting worse and worse signal and reception the further down they got. It was nearly impossible to contact anyone on it. They were literally on their own.

"Nah it's useless down here. Were in the servicing annexes now, the walls here are too thick. We're down to deep."

"How reassuring."

A long silence ensued. Only the steady drip of leaking fluid nodes could be heard, accompanied by the occasional distant rumble.

"You hear that??" Neve asked, suddenly stopping in his tracks.

"What? The rumbling?" Detritus asked puzzled.

"Shhhhh. . ." Neve put his finger to the Inquisitors lips as he stood there, listening intently.

Drip. . .Drip. . .Drip.

Detritus strained his ears. All he could hear was that steady dripping of fluid nodes off in the darkness.

Drip. . .Drip. . .Drip.

"What are we . . .?"

Neve quickly clasped his hands round the Inquisitors mouth.

Drip. . .Drip. . .Drip.

Detritus tilted his head, trying to hear whatever it was Neve had picked up. Trying to drown out that incessant dripping

Drip. . .Drip. . .Drip.

There! Over the slow drip of water, over the distant rumble of the Hive he heard it echoing through the darkness.

"Grrrrrrrrrrrr. . . ."

They both gave each other a long, anxious glance that seemed to last for an eternity.

Neve leaned forward slowly and whispered in his ear. . .

"Run!"


	3. Gangs and Monsters

****

The beam of Captain Jonas's torch suddenly fell upon the mutilated cadaver. He heard Rex choke behind him. He could see why Detritus had wanted him to see it for himself. The scars across the victim didn't correlate with any other remains they had discovered previously.

"This is amazing!" Grendel proclaimed with professional interest as he rushed to the body. He hunched over it and begun to take clothing and tissue samples with his augmented limbs.

"It's rather sickening if you ask me." Rex opposed.

"The wounds are certainly still fresh, the blood is unoxidised." Grendel said almost to himself. Much of his body had been replaced with sophisticated analysis and biological sampling hardware. He did however still possess some form of human emotion as well as the very human attribute of speculation, a valuable trait for a crime scene analyst.

He probed a metal finger inside one of brutal disfigurements. "And what's this?. . ."

"Well?" Jonas asked.

"This puss, it's covering the injury."

"It's probably just infected, what with all the filth round this place." Rex muttered, kicking the trash at his feet.

"Nooo." Grendel crooned (A strange sound coming from an artificial throat).

His eyes widened. "It's venom."

"What? Poison?" Jonas queried. That was rather unusual; most murderers down here just blew their victims to pieces and had done with it.

"In a sense yes. It is most definitely what killed the individual, as appose to the injuries themselves."

"You're telling me three massive lacerations across the guy's chest didn't kill him?" Rex scoffed.

"That's exactly what I'm saying. I shall run further tests but it appears to be some sort of clotting agent. There's very little blood exiting the scars, and the corpse isn't positioned in a way that suggests it's been struck down. There's no blood splatter on any of the walls or floors round here."

"This all amounts to what?" Jonas was growing impatient, and Grendel had a habit of getting to everything but the point.

"After he was attacked, he must have fled from the scene. Until eventually the venom administered into the wounds formed clots in his bloodstream that lead to his death." Grendel concluded.

"I'm not interested in how he died Genetor; I want to know who the culprit is behind these killings."

There was an uncomfortable pause from the forensic analyst. He rose to his feet. "I am 97.823% certain that the individual in question was not killed by any sentient life form."

Jonas broke into an amused smile, a rather rare occurrence. "You're telling me that this poor soul wasn't killed by anything . . . human?"

"I am only 97.823% certain sir." He said deadly serious.

Jonas laughed "We're on Monterey Grendel, one of the biggest hive cities in this entire sector. The only life forms on this rock are humans."

". . . and rats." Rex added smirking.

"Nevertheless, I am 97.823% certain that th. . ."

The speeder behind them exploded in a shower of metal and fire, illuminating the tunnel in vivid orange. Jonas was thrown brutally to the floor as the shockwave of the blast hit him, his shotgun flying from his hands. He landed face first with a hard crack and felt a shooting pain soar up his left leg. He screamed with rage and agony.

"ARBITES SCUM!!!" There was an ululating shout somewhere behind him, followed by successive gunfire.

They had outstayed there welcome.

He rolled around, frantically trying to find his shotgun, desperately scrabbling in the dirt for it. The Hive gang was advancing over the wreckage of the exploded speeder toward him, menacing grins played across their faces. There must have been at least a dozen of them.

He was screwed.

He tried to get to his feet, his leg simply collapsed underneath him. It was slick with blood.

The reverberating sound of shotgun fire echoed through the tunnel behind him and Jonas saw several of the gang crumple to the floor. "Sir! Are you okay sir?!"

A hand gripped his shoulder, trying desperately to drag him up. He turned and saw the stern face of Rex, it was stained with blood.

"My leg! Get me out of here dammit!" Jonas wailed helplessly.

Rounds continued to ping off of the walls around them, the advancing hive gang unleashing a salvo of fire. Rex stooped, gripping his shotgun menacingly and unleashed several roaring shots toward the gang.

Jonas felt him grab him again and drag him to his feet, putting his arm over his shoulder. Rex was desperately trying to drag him back, but it was no use. The gang was getting ever closer and Jonas heard the inevitable soft thud of a bullet tearing into flesh next to him. It was followed by a sharp cry of pain. Rex's body slumped to the floor, throwing Jonas down as well.

He shouted in rage. So this was it he thought. This is how it's going to end.

*****

Detritus was running for his life. The beast roared furiously in the dark behind them. He could feel the very echoes of its growl vibrating under his feet. He dived over the trash and dirt lining the tunnel, his power blade briefly illuminating the passage.

Just run, don't look back.

He could almost feel the thing breathing down his neck. Another roar quickly spurred him on.

Neve was ahead of him, he spun on his heel and drew his twin las-pistols.

"Olm get down!!!" He bellowed.

Detritus threw himself to the floor and heard the hissing flurry of las-rounds flying millimeteres over him.

There was a scream in the dark.

Detritus quickly rose to his feet and flourished his power blade. He gazed balefully into the darkness. Whatever it was Neve had injured it. He sprinted alongside the Inquisitor, an alarmed look on his face.

"Did you see that?!" He questioned, pointing his pistols menacingly toward the dark.

Detritus walked slowly toward where the beast had been, his power blade extended like a rod in front of him. He could hear it, a soft tapping of footsteps.

"Shh!"

He strode into the dark, listening intently. He was determined to find this thing, find out what it was and then kill it. He'd be dammed if some hive creature was going to get the better of him.

There was a loud clang to Detritus's left. He spun around and lunged toward it, hurting nothing but air and emoty darkness.

He heard a spine tingling scream behind him.

"Neve?! Neve?!"

Just a cold silence.

"Dammit!" The Inquisitor cried in frustration.

Still just a chilling silence filled the dark void.

"Where are you?" He whispered. He heard the soft tapping again in the dark, he paced towards it.

There was a deafening screech and something flew out of the dark towards him. It tackled him to the ground with a violent thud, his power blade sliding from his hands.

Claws and teeth scrabbled at him furiously, tearing flesh. The pain was excruciating. Fangs pierced his skin, lethal points tried to violently eviscerate him. He shrieked in agony and anger.

There was a vision of him being that other, gruesome corpse that was found. A vision of Captain Jonas standing critically over his cadaver, pondering what on earth could have killed an Imperial Inquisitor. He'd be dammed if he was going to let this thing kill him.

He screamed out and flew a wild last ditch punch toward the creature. It connected with a crunch and the thing wailed, flailing in pain. Detritus seized the moment and with all his momentum threw the creature off of him.

He looked around and saw his power blade sitting in the dirt of the tunnel. He got to his feet and dived toward it, the scrabbling claws and growls of the beast right at his back.

Landing on his front he gripped the hilt and spun round. The creature launched itself at him out of the darkness roaring vehemently.

"Die scum!!!" Detritus screamed as he extended his arm out and ignited his blade. The creature, still flying through the air at Detritus, landed with a reassuring howl upon the tip of the blade. It slid down it, screaming furiously in pain. The red glow of the blade illuminated its horrifying features as its jaw snapped furiously inches away from Detritus's face.

It let out a final scream and fell limp on his blade. He threw the corpse off of him and pulled out his blade with a jerk. He couldn't believe it. He stared dumbstruck at the carcass, the red light playing garishly over its lifeless form.

"It's a tyranid. . . An emporer dam tyranid."


End file.
